Undead

Undead is a collective name for all types of corporeal and non-corporeal entities who were once alive in the normal sense, died, and then continued to exist in the world of the living, usually as a ghost or animated corpse. Undead of different varieties are featured in the legends of most cultures on earth and in many works of fiction, especially fantasy and horror fiction.

The term "undead" was invented by Bram Stoker, as the original title for his novel Dracula.

Examples of undead

Corporeal

Corporeal undead have an animated physical body that is otherwise biologically deceased.

Zombies from the Voodoo religion
Draugrs from Norse mythology
Vampires of various cultures
Hopping corpses of Chinese folklore
Ghouls
Medieval revenants, stories of undead from medieval chroniclers.

Incorporeal

Incorporeal undead have no tangible form, but exist in the world of the living as spirit entities.

Ghosts, common in many cultures — all types of non-corporeal undead could be said to be variations of ghosts
Will o' the wisps are sometimes said to be undead spirits in parts of Europe and North America
Mylings of Scandinavian folklore
Poltergeists, originally of German origin

Undead originating in fiction

Corporeal:
- Liches
- Skeletons
- Mohrg
- Death knight
- Mummies in modern popular culture
- Revenant, a sentient creature whose desire to complete a goal (usually to avenge its death) allows it to return from the grave as a creature vaguely resembling an intelligent zombie. Revenants exist primarily in role-playing games and horror movies. The Crow and Al Simmons, the protagonist of Spawn, are distinctive examples.
Non-Corporeal:
- Wights/Barrow-wights

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus introduced another variant on the dead that walk again, the dead brought back to 'life' by science, though Frankenstein's creature also bears some similarity to a golem. Similar works include H.P. Lovecraft's short story Herbert West, Re-Animator and the Re-Animator film franchise that it inspired.

In the film Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, a sequel to The Wolf Man, the corpse of the werewolf Larry Talbot is returned to life when the light of the full moon falls on it, making Talbot technically one of the undead for the remainder of the film and its three sequels.

Additionally a vast number of films have been made specifically concerning the undead, usually vampires, zombies, or mummies.

Creation of undead

In both legend and popular culture, various different methods of creating undead creatures are discussed. Most involve the reanimation of a corpse, as in zombies, skeletons and ghouls. With ghosts, the spirit lives on after death, forming a intangible physical body that often mirrors the one the spirit had in life.

In some cases, especially with skeletons and zombies, the undead can be under control of a practitioner of magic. In other cases, like with zombies as shown in film and with vampires, the undead existence is passed on like a curse or disease. With liches, the powers of undead are sought after by the participant of a magical ritual that turns them from a living being to a lich. Ghosts are said to be kept in their undead state by willpower, either from a keen desire to remain with the living or from a wish to see something completed that they could not do during their lifetime.

Undead in games

In some stories and settings, such as the Lorien Trust LARP, the word "unliving" is used as a preferential synonym. In reference to the political correctness movement, the undead are sometimes jokingly referred to as the "living-impaired".

In Dungeons & Dragons and similar systems, clerics can attempt to "turn" undead by invoking their patron deities or channeling "positive energy" (other-dimensional life energy). This forces the undead creature away from the cleric; powerful clerics are capable of completely destroying weaker undead creatures with this ability. Although the act of turning away the undead relies primarily on power of faith, a holy symbol is usually required as a focus for the divine power being invoked. This is derived from the traditional notion that vampires could be repelled by the cross. Clerics of evil gods can rebuke and control the undead in a similar fashion, by means of necromancy.

In many games, undead characters appear in many roles, be it a mindless horde of opponents (often zombies or skeletons), a thoughtful, plotting villain (often the case with vampires). Some games feature undead protagonists, such as Mortal Kombat, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, and Vampire: The Masquerade.

Undead are also an enemy in the Legend of Zelda series.

Protection against undead

Common items used against hostile undead include: holy water, crosses or other religious symbols, silver, garlic, salt, fire, a pure heart, and sunlight. Vampires are traditionally killed with a stake through their heart. Incoporeal undead are difficult to defend against, as normal physical objects often pass through their bodies.

Undead in philosophy

Jacques Derrida used the myth of the undead as a means to deconstruct the binary opposition between life and death.

External links

The Ultimate Zombie Book List - Huge listing of zombie novels, anthologies, collections, comic books, and more.